October 2021

I love October because of all the festivities that we get to enjoy and the great weather! 

We do lots of crafting for the holidays and the kids loved these make your own pumpkin faces I found on Pinterest. 

Brownies with lots of candy and eye ball candies make for a delicious spooky dessert. 

I love the view of sunsets at the range. 

We had the kids friends over for a weekend playdate. They love to play Mario Kart together. 

Halloween sprinkles on anythings makes it more fun! 

After the chefs in the Maldives made the kids such amazing pancakes I have been challenged to up my pancake decorating skills.. haha! 

We have a new friend moving to India so the kids made him some welcome signs and we got a few American snacks that are available in town. It's amazing what is made locally now that wasn't 8 years ago when we first arrived. 

Madelyn and I made a trip out to visit friends who live on a farm just outside of Chandigarh. 

Soaking in some Punjabi culture. 

These women are such a blessing. 

Another weekend, another golf tournament. Love having Madelyn with me as a cheerleader while Ezra plays and Luke caddies. 

I took some precious pictures from the back. 

Love these 3! 

Ezra is always so excited when he gets a medal after a tournament. 

The tree beside our house fell down so we bought a ton of inexpensive plants to fill in the empty space. 

Every Monday night we watch a recording of the precious week's Cowboys game with a fellow Texas friend. Madelyn and I made some football shaped cookies.

Ezra got his first trophy from a tournament and was so excited! 

I snapped this pic of Madelyn and her sweet golfing friend. 

Freshly made chai with some biscuits.. possibly Ezra's favorite part of schooling at home. Ha! 

Madelyn did her first golf tournament! 

The driving range made a small 9 hole 3 par course which was a perfect first taste of competing. She had a lot of fun! 

She was so excited to even get a plaque at the end. 

Madelyn will almost always place when she competes because there are usually only a few girls playing. She will definitely love that! 

The kids were so excited to learn that their school was opening full time in November! 

I made Oreo balls and a poem to announce the exciting news to them. 

Bat shaped Oreo balls just because they're fun! 

A few moms from Ezra's class wanted to meet at Nik Baker's for breakfast. Madelyn wasn't going to school full time yet so she tagged along for a mom date and did her school work. I am so so thankful for how easy and enjoyable it is to bring these kiddos along in life. 

These two crack me up. They love chocolate milk shakes.

Madelyn played in a 9 hole tournament at a real course and I was her caddy! 

What sweet memories!  

Proudly showing off another plaque. 

Some more time with precious ladies .. I don't get pictures often but I love when I do! 

Decorating pancakes to look like monsters.. 

These two made some awesome carved pumpkins this year! 

I helped Madelyn a lot but Ezra did a good job being safe with his knife skills. 

The love "dirt and worms". It's just crushed Oreos and gummy worms on top of cake or brownies but it makes them squeal and laugh every year. 

Madelyn got to wear her costume and show off her decorated pumpkins to her class as they learned about Halloween. 

The kids made some precious Diwali cards to for our neighbors. 

The neighbors loved them of course. 

The kids in their costumes. 

Madelyn was a butterfly princess and Ezra was an Indian army man. 

There were several American families in town this year so we had a rather festive Halloween weekend. 

I invited them all to join the kids and I for our annual "boo at the zoo" and it was a lot of fun! 

There was a new dinosaur exhibit that Ezra had some extra fun with. 

Sunday morning we went to breakfast at our favorite bakery. They Halloween cookies for sale and we had to buy a couple. 

We went to a partner's area just outside of town and the kids were able to help us. 

Then we headed back home to get ready for a Halloween party we invited all our American friends to. 

We didn't have trick or treating but we did make some goodie bags with yummy candy. 

We also had a very fun Halloween themed cake made. 

We invited everyone to a large indoor playground for the kids to play for a couple of hours in their costumes while the parents visited at the cafe. It was quite a crowd and a ton of fun! 

Later that night we had our traditional Halloween candy hunt. I had bought lots of special candy and then wrapped them each in his and her wrapping paper. We then hid them all over the house and they searched for them. After the last couple of years of being in the US for the fuller fall festival / trick or treat experience I was nervous that our kids would be less content with our normal Halloween traditions in India but they were just as happy as ever and loved it all. 

 

September 2021

September was full of fun memories with family and friends. 

One of our favorite restaurants is at a golf course outside of the town. They have a large lawn for for the kids to run around in while we wait for the food. 

We just finished 9 holes and were quite sweaty. September is a very hot month! 

Madelyn's computer class at school has started introducing different Microsoft programs. Her favorite to work with so far has been Powerpoint. 

We went out to have dinner with a partner's family. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the roof and toting around their guinea pigs.  

Their daughter even did some henna on Madelyn's foot which she loved. 

A Saturday morning golf tournament calls for a special golf themed pancakes. 

The tournament was actually at our favorite course. There are only 3 courses in town so we get a lot of practice playing on them which is nice. 

Enjoying the sunny weather and some nimbu pani (Indian lemonade). 

I love love love the quiet nature of a course. 

Madelyn is really growing into a little golfer herself! 

We went on 1 on 1 dates to our favorite sweet spot in town. Madelyn loves Skip-Bo these days and she is actually good enough to win often. 

Our dear friend Nysa came over. She's Ezra's age but a girl like Madelyn so she plays evenly with both. This afternoon the girls were busy in the kitchen making cookies. 

The kids school started opening for each grade to come day of the week. Both kids were thrilled to get a little time with friends. 

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They did have to wear masks but face to face fun with friends and teachers is more than worth it! 

We took a trip into the capital and stayed with our dear friends while we were there. 

Madelyn and their oldest are the same age and have the more precious budding friendship.

The mom is one of my best friends so we love the idea of our little girls enjoying a life-giving long distance friendship like we do. 

I've been using the kid's Hindi classes to get out and about. So many times I'm witnessing moments I just have to capture but can't without being weird. Thankfully I was able to click this one. 

Our kids school put in a new tennis/basketball court while the school was closed. They were so kind and said that we could come play after school hours whenever we wanted. 

We met some partners at the mall for dinner and a movie.

It was our friends birthday and I love that she wanted to spend it with us. 

With the fall season coming soon we love to start our festivities early. 

Madelyn painted these 2 Blue and Bingo dogs (from their favorite cartoon) and Ezra made a 2 story BB8 robot from Star Wars. Neither needed a lot of assistance from me. I was very impressed. 

Another sweet afternoon of fellowship. 

We took our friends to a Hindi movie. I'm so thankful that the kids can understand enough to enjoy them! 

The kids have loved having Aiyaan in their golf class. It is sweet to watch them play. 

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Ezra wanted to try fresh coconut water.. he decided that he preferred regular water more. ha! 

Now that Ezra is bigger he loves going to our neighborhood park and joining in with any group of guys playing cricket. I snapped some pictures of him "bowling" which is the pitcher in cricket. 

Enjoying the waterpark again before it gets cold. These two LOVE to swim.